Tributes to Dorset historian and artist Robert 'Bob' Field

Robert Field, better known as Bob, was a familiar face in Swanage due to his longstanding volunteer work with the town’s museum and heritage projects.

Remembered as a man with a “cheery smile and twinkling eyes”, Bob died at his home on January 24 at the age of 83. The Swanage Museum Committee, with whom Bob was associated for many years, have paid tribute to him.

Bob was the original inspirer for the rebuilding of the Albert Memorial on the Swanage Downs. His dedication to this project lasted many years and was eventually taken up by a local benefactor and was completed in 2021.

Following this, he was quoted by Swanage News as saying: “To discover that this was the very first memorial to be erected to commemorate the life of Prince Albert meant that it was even more important to ensure it was restored.”

Albert Memorial in Swanage (Image: Mike Allen)

Bob was also the art director for the Swanage Museum and in his period of governance, strong research was done culminating in an Encyclopaedia of Purbeck Art.

Having spent his earlier career as a teacher, Bob’s other activities for the museum included giving talks on history and art to local organisations.

In tribute to his colleague and friend, Swanage Museum chair Mel Norris said: “Dear Bob will leave a huge gap in the museum’s volunteer work force and Swanage will miss his enormous contributions to community life, for Bob was not only a dedicated and talented volunteer, he was a great humanitarian.

“Last December, Bob was awarded a plaque by the Dorset County Museums Association – ‘Dorset Museums Volunteers of the year award’ – for his dedicated services for Swanage, so richly deserved.

“Bob, though he has now passed, will always be part of The Swanage Museum and also part of the town he loved. His modesty, his cheery smile and twinkling eyes, will be remembered with great fondness. His legacy lives on.”